Council of Scientific and Industrial Research established in 1942, is an
autonomous body and India's largest research and development organisation,
with 37 laboratories and 39 field stations or extension centres spread
across the nation, with a collective staff of over 17,000. Although CSIR is
mainly funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology, it operates as an
autonomous body registered under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860.
The research and development activities of CSIR includes various fields such as
aerospace engineering, Structural engineering, ocean sciences, Life
sciences, metallurgy, chemicals, mining, food, petroleum, leather, and
environment. In December 2006, Director General Raghunath A. Mashelkar, retired
following which M. K. Bhan took over the post, but he was relieved on 7 March
2007. After that T. Ramasami had the additional charge of Director General of
CSIR until Samir K. Brahmachari was appointed as the Director General on 13
November 2007. In late 2007, the Minister of Science
and Technology, Kapil Sibal admitted, in a Question Hour session of the
Parliament, that CSIR has developed 1,376 technologies/knowledgebase during
the last decade of 20th century. History
In 1930s the need for establishing research organisations for the
development of natural resources and new industries in India began to emerge.
Eminent citizens such as C. V. Raman, Lt. Col. Seymour Sewell and J. C. Ghosh
had proposed the creation of an advisory board of scientific research. Sir
Richard Gregory, then editor of Nature, was among the first people who
officially reported to the British Government. After visiting scientific
departments and universities in India in 1933, Gregory submitted to Samuel Hoare,
Secretary of State for India, regarding the need of scientific organisation
similar to the DSIR in Britain. Indian scientists at Calcutta and Bangalore
initiated schemes to launch a National Institute of Sciences and an Indian
Academy of Sciences, respectively. At the Fifth Industries Conference in 1933,
the Provincial Governments of Bombay, Madras, Bihar and Orissa unanimously
reiterated their demand for a co-ordinating forum for industrial
research. Hoare advised the Viceroy, Lord Willingdon, to support the demand.
However, in May 1934, Willingdon replied Hoare saying, "The creation of a
Department of Scientific and Industrial Research in India to promote the
application of research to natural resources does not appear to be
necessary." The Indian DSIR was rejected, however, the colonial
government provided a small concession. It instead offered to create an
Industrial Intelligence and Research Bureau, which came into operation in
April 1935 under the Indian Stores Department. The Bureau's limited
resources made it impossible to initiate major research and industrial activities
as had hoped for. It was mainly concerned with testing and quality
control. At the onset of World War II in 1939,
the bureau was proposed to be abolished. Arguably, Arcot Ramaswamy Mudaliar
became the most instrumental in the creation of CSIR in India. As a member
of Viceroy’s executive council, and also of Commerce, he recommended that the
Bureau should be terminated, not as a measure of economy, but to make room for
a Board of Scientific and Industrial Research, which should be endowed with
greater resources and wider objectives. It was by this persistence that the
Board of Scientific and Industrial Research was created on 1 April 1940 for
a period of two years. Mudaliar became the chair of the board. It was at this
point that Bhatnagar was appointed to pilot the board, as the Director. The
BSIR was allocated an annual budget of INR 500,000 under the Department of
Commerce. By the end of 1940, about 80 researchers were engaged, of whom
one-quarter was directly employed. Major achievements of BSIR included
development of the techniques for the purification of Baluchistan sulphur
anti-gas cloth manufacture, vegetable oil blends as fuel and lubricants,
plastic packing cases for army boots and ammunition, dyes for uniforms and the
preparation of vitamins, and the invention of a pyrethrum emulsifier and
cream. In early 1941 Bhatnagar persuaded the government to set up an Industrial
Research Utilisation Committee for translating results into application.
The government then agreed to make a separate fund out of the royalties
received from industry for further investment into industrial research.
Mudaliar recommended that an Industrial Research Fund should be constituted,
which would have an annual grant of INR 1,000,000 for a period of five years.
This was accepted by the Central Assembly in Delhi at its session on 14
November 1941. Then the constitution of the Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research as an autonomous body was prepared under
Mudaliar and Bhatnagar. Thus, CSIR came into operation on 28 September 1942. The
BSIR and IRUC were incorporated into the advisory bodies to the governing body of
the CSIR. In 1943 the governing body of CSIR approved the proposal of Bhatnagar,
though the initiative of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, to establish five
national laboratories — the National Chemical Laboratory, the National
Physical Laboratory, the Fuel Research Station, and the Glass and Ceramics
Research Institute. In 1944 in addition to its annual budget of INR 1 million,
CSIR received a grant of INR 10 million for the establishment of these
laboratories. The Tata Industrial House donated INR 2 million for the chemical,
metallurgical and fuel research laboratories. The foundation for the
Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute at Kolkata was the first to be
laid, in December 1945; and that for the National Chemical Laboratory at Pune was
the last, on 6 April 1947, four months before India became independent. All the
five establishments were completed by 1950.
CSIR achievements Developed first Indian tractor Swaraj in
1967 completely based on indigenous know-how
Achieved the first breakthrough of flowering of Bamboo within weeks as
against twenty years in nature. First to analyse genetic diversity of
the indigenous Andamanese tribes and to establish their origin out of Africa
60,000 years ago. Developed the first transgenic
Drosophila model for drug screening for cancer in humans.
First to introduce DNA fingerprinting in India.
Helped India to be the first pioneer investor under the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea. Invented, once a week non-steroidal
family planning pill Saheli and non-steroidal herbal pill for asthma
called Asmon. Designed India's first ever parallel
processing computer Flosolver. Partnered more than 50,000 companies
with turnover ranging from Rs 5 lakhs to Rs 500,000 crores.
Rejuvenated India's one-hundred-year-old refinery at Digboi using the most modern
molecular distillation technology. Provided the critical technology for the
NMP Lube Extraction Plant of capacity of 2,50,000 tonnes per year.
With TCS, developed a versatile portable PC-based software 'Bio-Suite' for
bioinformatics. Design of 14 seater plane 'SARAS'.
Established first ever in the world 'Traditional Knowledge Digital Library'
accessible in five international languages, English, German, French,
Japanese and Spanish. Remained in top 3 in the list of PCT
patent applications amongst all developing countries.
Topped list of holders of U.S. patents. Successfully challenged the grant of
patent in the USA for use of haldi for wound healing and neem as insecticide.
In 2009, completed the sequencing of the Human Genome.
In 2011, successfully tested India's 1st indigenous civilian aircraft, NAL NM5
made in association with National Aerospace Laboratories and Mahindra
Aerospace. Bhopal Disaster December 1985 Report.
-on-scientific-studies-december-1985.pdf Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for
Science and Technology The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prizes are
awarded annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research for
notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biological,
chemical, earth, atmosphere, ocean and planetary, engineering, mathematical,
medical and physical sciences. The prize comprises a citation, a plaque, and a
cash award of Rs. 500,000. In addition recipients also get Rs. 15,000 per month
up to the age of 65 years. Research laboratories under CSIR
Journals 18 journals and 3 popular science
magazines are available under open access from NOPR website.
Controversies CSIR has been flagged in ongoing efforts
to root out corruption in India. Despite being established with the directive to
do translational research and create real technologies, CSIR has been accused
of devolving into an ritualistic, overly-bureaucratic organization that
does little more than churn out papers. There are many issues facing Indian
scientists, with some - such as MIT systems scientist VA Shiva Ayyadurai -
calling for transparency, a meritocratic system, and an overhaul of the
bureaucratic agencies that oversee science and technology. Sumit Bhaduri
stated, “[t]he challenges of turning Indian science into part of an
innovation process are many. … Many competent Indian scientists aspire to be
ineffectual administrators [due to administrative power and political
patronage], rather than do the kind of science that makes a difference.” Prime
minister Manmohan Singh spoke at the 99th Indian Science Congress and
commented on the state of the sciences in India, after an advisory council
informed him there were problems with “the overall environment for innovation
and creative work” and a ‘warlike’ approach was needed.
See also References
External links CSIR Facebook Page
CSIR News Page Innovation Demands freedom
System defeats scientist return CSIR-TECH PATH FORWARD by V.A. Shiva
Ayyadurai & Deepak Sardana